This week, we speak to Dr. Laura Gleeson again—this time about pleural effusions. Our conversation covers all the pleural effusion basics, plus the nuances of radiology, when to insert a chest drain, and how to monitor it once it’s in place.
Chapters:
01:05 – Rapid fire round
04:23 – Pleural effusion intro
05:30 – Symptoms at presentation with pleural effusion
06:40 – Interpreting a white-out on CXR
07:20 – When to do further radiology/imaging
08:35 – CT pre or post chest drain insertion?
10:25 – Light’s criteria – can it always be trusted?
12:00 – What tests to send on your pleural fluid sample
14:15 – Chest drain indications
16:35 – Monitoring your chest drain
21:00 – Flushing the chest drain
22:20 – How much fluid to drain
25:00 – Removing the chest drain
27:10 – Empyema management
30:10 – Fibrinolysis
31:55 – Following up your pleural patients
34:10 – Take-home points
Show notes & resources:
Light’s criteria – MDCalc calculator | CHEST Clinics article
MIST trials – MIST2 – NEJM | MIST3 – ATS Journals
